Ws/L1.3

A powerpoint presentation showing incorrect use of the apostrophe and comma. Useful for discussions to show the correct use and for learners to say why the apostrophe is wrong. Has ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ and omissive and possessive apostrophes.

L1/2 factsheet and worksheet on bracketing and listing commas.
Useful for underpinning L1-2 Functional English writing skills.

L1/L2 resource adapted from comma quizzes in The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus. Nine slides of multiple choice questions. They are all in red, green, yellow or blue so that learners can throw beanbags into the corresponding hoops, or hold up corresponding cards etc. The choices are sometimes very tricky and this provokes a lot of discussion.

Two fun punctuation exercises for cat lovers.
Both are quite challenging. The first page requires full stops, capital letters and commas (E3-L1) whereas the second also includes quotation marks and apostrophes (L1-L2).

A wonderful kinaesthetic card matching game designed to help learners remember when to use capital letters.

The game comprises 52 picture cards (26 proper nouns, 26 common nouns) and [img_assist|nid=4758|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=58]26 double ended upper-lowercase dominoes. It not only reinforces knowledge of capital letters but also is a good speaking and listening activity. Learners often debate what or who the picture is and where it needs to go.

An enticing looking resource to encourage vocational art students (or anyone interested in art) to use commas, capital letters and full stops correctly. Along the way they’ll also find out more about Picasso, van Gogh, and Degas. With literacy and Functional English mapping information and answers.

Clear handout explaining the basics of punctuating direct speech. Split into three sections: the speech marks, the remaining punctuation, and the use of a new paragraph / line for each new speaker.
Each section has an accompanying set of exercises.
Mapped to the Functional English criteria and adult literacy curriculum elements.

One handout with the main rules of using speech marks and one worksheet for learners to practise applying these rules.

I used these with a strong L1 literacy group who had little prior knowledge of the rules for speech marks. They generally did well with re-writing some unpunctuated sentences I gave them but got a bit confused with the attached exercise on Prince William and Kate Middleton (they used speech marks inside the speech bubbles). This may need to be demonstrated in front of the group first. However, it did produce some very funny writing.

A Level 1/2 PPT quiz on commas. Some slides are based on persuasive-type texts so can also be used for purpose of text extension work, others are based on recent news items.

The game is multiple choice and based on colours. I use coloured hoops (as in hoola hoops) and bean bags. It can be team based or individual. Each player throws a beanbag into the hoop that corresponds with their chosen answer.

5 page workpack covers punctuation and vocabulary. Written for history students that are also covering basic literacy but useful for any students with an interest in ancient Britain.